Start To a New Soccer Season

The boys’ varsity soccer team has had a rough start to the season. They started the season off with a come-from-behind one to one tie against Portsmouth Abbey. The team then went 0-3-1 in their next four games. They came from behind in the game with Pingree. They were losing two nothing at the half before a penalty kick goal by Captain Gabe Reich ‘09 and a goal by Will Searle tied the game at two.

Maybe the worst part of those series of games was that Gabe Reich got injured in the Pingree game. Reich says, “I partially tore my ACL before the Pingree game and during the Pingree game I partially tore my MCL.” This was a big loss for the team because Gabe Reich is a starter and a crucial part of the team’s transitional game. Gabe hopes to be back on the field in two weeks.

The team has a lot of new players on it and is missing a few key players from last year. Though the team lost key players, there is still a bevy of players returning from last years team: Avery Hunt ’08, Oliver Katz ’08, Rafael Cabral ’09, Willie Searle ’09, Chris Rush ’08, Arian Fararoy ’08, Zach Levandov ’08, Andrew Emmons ’08, Murry Hershkawitz ’10, Robert Awkward ’10, Marco Fabrizio ’09, and Gabe Reich ’09. The team has seven new players and one new starter: Angelo Cabral ’11, Nate Newmark ’11, Henry Moorhead ’10, Jason Stoll ’10, Jackson Van Raan ‘09, Tyler Starr ’10, and Matt Friedman ’10 . Captains, Avery Hunt ’08 and Oliver Katz ’08, both agree that losing Graham Lloyd ’07, starting sweeper last year, was a big loss. They are also missing their leading scorer from last year, Stratos Saropoulos.

Arguably the biggest loss from last year’s team was Lamarre Rey, who went to Pingree. going to Pingree. Lamarre was the starting keeper on the team for the last three years. “At first it was very devastating knowing that one of the best goalies in the league was leaving,” Oliver Katz says, “but it was resolved by Chris Rush’s performances this season.”

Chris Rush, a “bench warmer” from last year’s team, accepted the challenge of becoming the team’s new keeper. “He has been getting better every practice,” Gabe Reich says. Avery Hunt also agrees that Chris Rush “has been doing well.”

Thanks to the new athletic center, boys’ varsity soccer has been practicing in the gym two times a week. “Going to the weight room helps our team because it helps smaller kids get stronger,” says Oliver Katz.

Their latest game against Chapel Hill was a disaster. In the first half there was a Chapel Hill free kick which was kicked in the air into the goalie box. Rush jumped over a Chapel Hill player to get the ball. A foul was called on Rush for knocking the Chapel Hill striker down while trying to get the ball. Five minutes later the ref ended the game. Coach Cabral had received two yellow cards and a red card, the refs were nowhere to be found, and all BCDS players were outraged. When asked to use one word to describe the game, Reich and Katz answered “ridiculous.”

With eleven more games left, the team looks to step up their game. They are hoping to win their game against Concord on Friday to whom they have not lost to in five years.